Abortion? Wilcox describes herself as a practicing Catholic who opposes it; Carr said that while he abhors it, he opposes restrictions on the legal procedure.

Education? Carr favors repealing a school choice law passed by the Legislature last year, while Wilcox supports the statute.

Taxes? Carr proposes a comprehensive reform that would result in higher taxes for upper-income earners and corporations, while Wilcox opposes higher taxes for anyone.

Carr’s views may seem out of step for a House district that voted for Republican Mitt Romney in last year’s presidential election by a 3-to-1 margin, and he begins the sprint to the Jan. 28 special election at a decided disadvantage in campaign fundraising. But the first-time Democratic candidate rejects the notion that the race is hopeless.

“I was becoming very tired of elections there were not contested. I felt for a long time, voters haven’t had a choice,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a lost cause. … Maybe I’m stubborn.”

Carr, 42, works for the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based & Volunteer Services. In that role since 2011, he has managed a federal grant given to the state to assist victims of tornadoes that ravaged parts of the state that year. That program wraps up next month, and Carr said he has helped some 18,000 tornado victims move into permanent housing or develop a plan to do so.

Prior to that, Carr worked in a similar capacity as a contractor working with the state of Mississippi, where he oversaw the transition of thousands of Hurricane Katrina victims from formaldehyde-contaminated trailers to other housing options.

Differences on school choice

On the campaign trail, Carr has criticized the Republicans’ “supermajority” in the both houses of the Legislature, which allows them to pass any legislation they wish without confronting stalling tactics that the minority party might employ.

“Mr. Carr and I do have a lot of different opinions,” said Wilcox, who owns Yellow Cab of Mobile and two other businesses. “He seems to be running against the whole Republican Party, not just me.”

View full sizeMargie Wilcox celebrates with a supporter on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, after her upset win over Susan Hightower for the Republican nomination for House District 104 representative. Wilcox faces Democrat Stephen Carr in the January special election. (Sharon Steinmann/ssteinmann@al.com)

Wilcox spent more than $24,000 during the primary and runoff elections, and starts the general election campaign with another $24,000 in the bank. Carr meanwhile, has raised just $1,375, mainly from friends and family members.

The U.S. Army veteran said he wants to use his elected office to improve services for those who have served the country in uniform. He criticized government leaders for allowing 17 state-run veterans outreach offices to close due to budget cuts. He also called on the state to advocate for better federal veterans services, noting that vets in Mobile have to drive to Biloxi or Pensacola for serous medical procedures.

On education, Carr said he would work to repeal the Alabama Accountability Act, which allows parents of children who attend schools deemed “failing” to receive tax credits to send the students to private schools. The Legislature set aside tens of millions of dollars from the education budget to pay for those credits. Even though few parents have applied for transfers, though, the schools lose the entire amount set aside because the statute directs leftover funds to remain with the state Department of Revenue.

The cost this year to the Mobile County school system is about $3 million, and just five students transferred to private schools. Wilcox, Carr said, has campaigned on a platform of reducing regulations for businesses. But he argued that the Accountability Act imposes a whole host of new education regulations.

“It’s an inconsistent message,” he said.

Wilcox said she attended public schools but determined that St. Luke’s Episcopal School was a better setting for her daughter.

“I’m in favor of giving people the option,” she said.

On other areas, Wilcox and Carr agree on the ultimate result but differ in rationale. For instance, both would vote for a bill to drop out of the uniform education standards program known as the Common Core Standards Initiative.

But while Carr said he believes the state just is not ready to adopt the new standards all at once – and questioned the federal government attaching grant money to the initiative – Wilcox expressed unequivocal opposition to the program, itself.

“My constituents have overwhelmingly told me they’re against Common Core,” she said.

Medicaid expansion a ‘no-brainer’

Carr argued that it was a “no-brainer” for Alabama to expand the Medicaid program to provide health insurance to more low-income residents. With the federal government paying for the entire cost of expansion for the first three years and eventually covering 90 percent of the expense, he said, that state would enjoy a massive economic benefit.

Plus, Carr said, Alabamians are paying the Medicaid taxes whether the state participates in the expansion or not. “Some portion of that money already belongs to the taxpayers of Alabama,” he said.

Wilcox was noncommittal on the issue but said she would work with Gov. Robert Bentley, who has steadfastly opposed expanding Medicaid. She said she wants to explore more creative ways to help lower-income folks. She said she owns a transportation company in Florida that provides rides to the doctor for low-income folks.

Under the law in that state, the government pays for bus tickets, taxis or other transportation for non-emergency medical trips. Without those rides, Wilcox said, many people would end up taking ambulances to the emergency room at much higher cost to taxpayers.

Carr said he supports the Second Amendment right to bear arms but also backs registration and licensing requirements for gun purchases. Wilcox said she opposes blanket registration requirements but supports background checks and opposes a measure passed by the Legislature last year prohibiting private businesses from barring employees from bringing guns on company property.

On taxes, Carr advocated a comprehensive overhaul to make the system less regressive. He said he would eliminate or reduce the sales tax on groceries and raise the income level at which the state income tax kicks in. Both measures would reduce the tax burden for lower-income folks.

To make up the lost revenue, Carr said he would stop allowing higher-income folks to deduct their federal taxes on their state income tax forms. That would result in higher state taxes for upper-income earners. He said he also favors higher taxes on corporations and is skeptical of offering large tax incentives to lure manufacturers from out of state. Those agreements do not require the companies from hiring Alabamians, he said.

Wilcox said she shares the goal of eliminating the sales tax on food but added that it is not realistic in the current fiscal climate.

“Right now, I don’t know that we’re in any position to be eliminating any revenue sources,” she said.

Carr pursued a line of attack similar to one that Hightower leveled during the primary – Wilcox’s financial support from political action committees tied to the insurance industry. He said he would not take insurance PAC money.

Wilcox reiterated her belief that insurance companies must be part of any solution to rising homeowners insurance premiums. And she repeated that she has personal reasons for taking a hard line with the industry.

“I’ll repeat: I lost my home to Hurricane Katrina. I feel like I was horribly compensated for it,” she said.